‘Kinky Boots’ Wins Musical Tony, Tom Hanks Upset by Letts

Tom Hanks as Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Mike McAlary, with Courtney B. Vance as Hap Hairston, his editor and friend, in "Lucky Guy." Courtney Vance won a Tony for best supporting actor in a play, Photographer: Joan Marcus/Boneau/Bryan-Brown via Bloomberg

June 10 (Bloomberg) -- The exuberant “Kinky Boots” won
the Tony Award for best new Broadway musical yesterday, in a
triumphant night for black actors, women and underdogs.

“Kinky Boots” beat the most anticipated musical of the
season, “Matilda,” a dark co-production of the Royal
Shakespeare Co. that claimed a record seven Olivier awards on
London’s West End.

Cyndi Lauper became the first female solo composer-lyricist
to win for score, for “Kinky Boots.” Women swept directing for
just the second time: Diane Paulus, for the circus-themed
musical “Pippin,” and Pam MacKinnon, for an acclaimed revival
of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” topping a favorite of
some prognosticators, George C. Wolfe (“Lucky Guy”).

“Vegas got this one wrong,” MacKinnon said upon accepting
her award, at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.

“Virginia Woolf” was named best play revival. Christopher
Durang’s bittersweet Chekhov-inspired comedy, “Vanya and Sonia
and Masha and Spike,” won for best new drama and “Pippin” for
best musical revival.

Black actors took Tonys in four of the eight acting
categories, including Cicely Tyson (“The Trip to Bountiful”)
and Courtney Vance (“Lucky Guy.”) “Lucky Guy” star Tom
Hanks, a box office draw who many predicted would be rewarded
with an acting medallion, was upset by Tracy Letts, who’s also a
playwright, in “Virginia Woolf.”

Drag Queen

“Kinky Boots” won for sound design, Stephen Oremus’
orchestrations, Jerry Mitchell’s choreography and lead actor
Billy Porter, who plays a drag queen and makeshift boot designer
in a struggling English shoe factory.

Among others, Porter thanked co-star Stark Sands.

“I share this award with you, but I’ll keep it at my
house,” Porter said.

Tyson plays a woman determined to make a final visit to her
childhood home, in Horton Foote’s “The Trip to Bountiful.”
It’s her first Broadway role in 30 years.

“I cannot help but remember all of the thumb prints that
have touched this being during the course of her career,” Tyson
said slowly but confidently onstage.

“Matilda,” a $16 million adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel
about a brilliant girl with telekinetic powers, was rewarded for
Dennis Kelly’s book, set and lighting design and featured actor,
Gabriel Ebert, playing Matilda’s nasty dad.

“Pippin” won for featured actress Andrea Martin and lead
Patina Miller.

Optioned Film

Daryl Roth, a longtime producer who’s married to Vornado
Realty Trust Chairman Steven Roth, saw the film “Kinky Boots”
at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and optioned it. The musical
was capitalized at $13.5 million.

Roth’s son, Jordan Roth, is president of Jujamcyn Theaters,
which owns and operates five houses, including the Al
Hirschfeld, where “Kinky Boots” plays.

Although “Matilda” generally received better reviews,
some Tony voters said the English humor didn’t translate.

In newspaper ads, the producers of “Kinky Boots” quoted a
line from their show, “You change the world when you change
your mind,” directed in part at Tony voters who assumed
“Matilda” was a shoo-in.

“The press was not in our court at all,” Daryl Roth said
in an interview. “But you can’t discount what people were
saying and our sales were huge. We have a lot of heart in our
show. ”

‘La Cage’

It’s not the first time that Tony voters sided with the
audience rather than critics. In 1984, “La Cage aux Folles”
was named best musical over “Sunday in the Park With George,”
by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. “Sunday” went on to win
the Pulitzer Prize.

The 67th annual ceremony, broadcast on CBS, was hosted for
the fourth year by the television star Neil Patrick Harris. The
frenetic opening number included performers in many of the
musicals running on Broadway. Adding to the promotion, actors in
costume from long-running shows, such as “Chicago” and “Rock
of Ages,” later introduced songs from nominated shows.

Some 868 people involved in the theater business --
including producers, directors, actors and tour presenters --
select the winners. The Tonys are a joint venture of the trade
association the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.

Sales for the Broadway season were little changed from a
year earlier, to $1.14 billion, as attendance sank 6 percent to
the lowest since 2004-2005. Average ticket prices were about
$98, up from $92 a year earlier.

Muse highlights include Mark Beech on music, Manuela
Hoelterhoff on music and John Mariani on wine.